Homestead on the Roof

A restaurant critic truism: You can't get a good meal with a view. Boy, were we ever glad to be wrong. Homestead, a new rooftop restaurant on West Chicago, features one of the largest rooftop gardens we've ever seen. The patio, strung with twinkling Edison bulbs and set amidst lush greenery, gives new meaning to the cliched term "urban oasis." Every dish features something from the garden - even the cocktails are adorned with sprigs of herbs and stalks of wheat. The food is unexpectedly beautiful, festooned with flower blossoms. The lamb tartare, mixed with mint, parsley, cucumber, tomato, lemon and cinnamon, is the freshest-tasting tartare in the city; a perfect dish for sitting in the garden, breathing in the green and watching the sunset.